Postdocs at Mount Sinai Ratify Contract by 98%

Postdocs who work at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York voted to ratify their first-ever collective bargaining agreement by 98%, the SPOC-UAW Bargaining Committee announced on Friday, December 22.

390 members voted yes on the contract, with eight members voting no.

“Thank you to everyone who participated in the vote,” the Bargaining Committee posted on the SPOC-UAW website Friday evening. “After years of organizing and 15 months of bargaining, this vote is a strong mandate for researchers to continue improving our working conditions and the research conditions at Sinai.”

Workers were able to secure substantial gains in the new contract after a 12-day strike, including the highest minimum salaries for postdocs in the country, protections against harassment and bullying, guaranteed housing for three years, and six weeks of maternity leave.

“We will soon announce a meeting to start formally establishing our union here at Mount Sinai, including next steps like enforcing our contract improvements, discussing and deciding on Local Union affiliation, electing officers, and planning ongoing organizing efforts,” the Bargaining Committee wrote on the unit’s website.

The Bargaining Committee reached a tentative agreement with the school on Monday, December 18.

In June of 2022, nearly 90% of workers voted to choose Sinai Postdoctoral Organizing Committee-United Auto Workers (SPOC-UAW) as their union and bargaining representative.

Postdocs perform a wide range of critical research, from developing new therapies to fight disease to advancing new technologies that will shape the future of research, and much more.